The Gift of Frigg
by Avatar Rikki
Summary: SPOILERS HTTYD2...To say the Chief of Berk was stressed would have been an understatement. Its was his first Snoggletog without his dad, the first with his mom, it was a migration year, and the twins were nowhere to be found. Set about 11 months after the end of HTTYD 2.


**Takes place almost a year after HTTYD 2. But it hasn't been a full year just yet, about 11 months. Astrid and Hiccup got married a month after the bewilderbeast battle, and this story takes place 10 months after that.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own HTTYD.**

To say the chief of Berk was stressed would have been an understatement.

"I want those adolescent dragons in the stables immediately," Hiccup yelled down from the back of his dragon, and best friend, Toothless. Two Vikings nodded and saluted to their chief before quickly rounding up the younglings.

"Unhook those saddles and store them in the stables," Astrid, Hiccup's wife and second-in-command, shouted from the back of her Deadly Nadder Stormfly.

"Get that food in the storehouses," Hiccup yelled to the men who were carrying some fish through the village.

"Don't let those adolescents anywhere near the storehouse," Astrid yelled to the Vikings who were still herding the younger dragons to the stables.

"I want eyes on the horizon at all times."

"Call in the fishing ships."

"And would someone please find the twins," Hiccup ordered. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair as he watched people following his orders. They were rushing around with food in their hands, or small children, or pulling a small dragon in the direction of the stables. Hiccup spotted one Viking on the ground, looking around at all the Vikings rushing about, looking very confused as to what was going on.

"Mom," Hiccup said as he and Toothless landed next to the lost Viking, who also happened to be the chief's mother, Valka.

"Hiccup," Valka asked, "what is going on?"

"No Bucket," Hiccup said, turning away from his mother to address the odd Viking with a bucket on his head. "The sheep _do not_ go in the stables with the dragons."

"Why not?" Bucket asked, resulting in the chief groaning.

"Astrid," Hiccup yelled as he turned around, only to find that his wife had already landed.

"I'm on it," Astrid said as she gave a reassuring pat on her husband's shoulders and walked over to Bucket to explain why sheep and dragons didn't mix.

"Hiccup," Valka said as she watched her son make his way to the blacksmith shop, Toothless following close behind. "Why are you so stressed out? It's the holidays. It's Snoggletog."

"It's because it's Snoggletog that I'm so stressed," Hiccup said, and turned to address another Viking. "Mulch, make sure the sheep and yaks stay warm and relaxed in the _barn_ not the _stables_." Mulch nodded and ran off to complete the task.

"Even the chief gets to relax during Snoggletog," Valka said. "Take a deep breath, put your feet up, snog a lady-friend-"

"Wait," Hiccup said, stopping quickly before turning to his mother. "Is that where the name came from?" Valka opened her mouth to answer, but was quickly interrupted by Hiccup and another order. "Get that wood to the center of the village and make sure the twins don't go anywhere near it."

"Hiccup," Valka said as her son started moving faster towards the shop.

"This is my first Snoggletog without Dad," Hiccup said, "my first Snoggletog with you, it's a migration year, and the twins are NOWHERE TO BE FOUND!"

"I found the twins Chief."

"Thank you Fishlegs," Hiccup said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Take them to Spitelout for the time being. Where is Barf and Belch?

"De-saddled and ready for migration, sir," Fishlegs said.

"Good," Hiccup said, "and what about Meatlug?"

"Same for her too, sir," Fishlegs said. "Hookfang and Snotlout are back with the fishing boats as well, and four dragons are going to be carrying the empty boat. We did add a few baskets of fish in there for emergencies."

"Good," Hiccup said. "I'll see you after this is all over." Fishlegs nodded and went to deliver the twins to their temporary warden.

"What migration?" Valka asked as they made their way to the shop again. "A dragon migration? Hiccup, there are no dragon migrations this time of year, I can assure you of that."

"I wish there wasn't," Hiccup answered. "I need more time."

"More time?" Valka asked. "More time for what?" At that moment, they arrived at the shop. Hiccup wasted no time looking for what he had come here for.

"Where is it?" Hiccup said to himself as he pulled open drawers and looked under tables, ignoring his mother. "Toothless, where did you put it?" The dragon-in-question made an innocent face but it didn't seem like his friend was buying it. Hiccup folded his arms and stared his dragon down. Toothless groaned and motioned with his head upwards. Hiccup looked up to find the object he was looking for balancing on top the rafters.

"What is that?" Valka asked as Hiccup stepped on a chair in order to reach the mysterious object. He pulled it down and began to unwrap it from its leather covering.

"This," Hiccup said, "is a special tail fin for Toothless that he_ refuses to wear_." Toothless huffed as Hiccup started to unhook him from his saddle and his prosthetic tail fin. "Oh, hush. It's not that bad."

"A new tail?" Valka asked as she watched her son slide the old and red prosthetic tail fin off, and clip on a newer, black prosthetic tail fin. She gasped when Toothless twisted his tail and she watched the fake tail fin move on its own.

"I know you hate flying without me bud," Hiccup said as he knelt in front of his dragon, "as much as I hate flying without you. But now that I'm chief, I have to stay on Berk this year, and as Alpha you need to protect the dragons during the migration. It will only be for a couple of days. Besides, there's no one I trust more than you to keep our dragons safe." Toothless cooed as he leaned his forehead against Hiccup's. "I know this time of year is hard for you, especially now that you're almost fully grown. I want nothing more than for you to be happy this time of year. Okay?" Toothless cooed again and Hiccup scratched behind the dragon's ear. Before Hiccup could add anything else, a low horn sounded.

"That's the signal," Hiccup said as the three ran outside. The Vikings were still running around. "Get ready Toothless." A roar echoed across Berk, stopping everyone in their tracks. Hiccup looked up to see a swarm of dragons flying overhead. Toothless let out his own roar and, with one quick motion, all the dragons were up in the air, four of whom carrying a Viking Ship with them. They all started flying away from Berk. It wasn't until the last dragon was just a dot on the horizon did anyone make a sound.

"That went off better than I expected," Hiccup said to himself before turning towards his mother. "Migration years are always the hardest, you know."

"No I don't, Hiccup," Valka said. "What migration are you talking about?"

"The breeding migration," Hiccup said, raising an eyebrow at his mother, "when the dragons travel to a dragon island to lay their eggs."

"None of the dragons I took care of ever did that," Valka said. "They laid their eggs right where they were."

"Huh," Hiccup said as he thought about what his mother said. "Maybe Berk is too cold for laying eggs." He then shrugged his shoulders and turned towards the crowd of Vikings that were forming around him.

"That was great everyone," Hiccup said, raising his voice so everyone could hear him. "Best sendoff we've had yet." Everyone cheered at this. "But we're not out of the woods yet. Without our dragons, we're sitting ducks if anyone decides to attack us. I want patrols at all hours and new axes if we're running low. We also need to prepare for Snoggletog. We have a week before our dragons return everybody. Let's get moving." Everyone nodded and mumbled their agreement before heading off to work on the festivities. Hiccup sighed as he started making his way to his house.

"So what's the plan, Hiccup?" Astrid asked as she fell in to stride with her husband. Valka fell back to allow her son a bit of privacy with his wife.

"I don't know," Hiccup said as he ran his fingers through his hair again. "It would be just my luck to have my first Snoggletog as chief be during a migration year."

"You're going to do fine," Astrid said. "This is going to be an amazing Snoggletog, with new baby dragons as an added bonus."

"Just what Toothless needs," Hiccup chuckled. "More dragons that don't listen to him." Astrid laughed as they neared their house. Hiccup loved their house, built especially for him after becoming chief, since his old house, the one he and his father had lived in, had been badly damaged by the bewilderbeast battle almost a year ago. You wouldn't know it was the chief's house by looking at it. It was a simple, humble Viking home. The only unique thing about it was the Night Fury head carved out of wood hanging above the front door, the only one of its kind. Hiccup thought it was the best part of the house, mainly because it embarrassed Toothless.

"What do you need me to do?" Astrid asked as they entered their home. Hiccup sighed. Now that the dragons were gone he had more time to think. They had a whole week to prepare and the hardest part was behind them.

"Someone needs to oversee the food preparations," Valka said from behind them. She had stopped at the doorway since she technically had not been invited into their home. She knew Hiccup needed some guidance on what to do, and even though it had been many years since she celebrated Snoggletog, she still remembered what duties the chief and his wife were obligated to do.

"Right," Hiccup said, stroking his chin as he thought about who he could send. He could feel the stubble growing on his cheek and wondered if he should grow a beard like his father's. He shook his head at the thought. Astrid would never let him do that. She'd strap him down and shave him herself. "Mom, can you oversee the food preparations?"

"Of course," Valka said, "but usually it's the chief's wife who does that."

"Astrid isn't allowed near the kitchens during Snoggletog," Hiccup said, making Astrid punch him. Hiccup groaned. "It's nothing personal Astrid. I have to put the village first. Yaknog was bad enough without you making up new recipes every year."

"Well fine," Astrid said, punching Hiccup again, causing the makeshift fin in his flight suit to pop out. "I'll just go oversee the decorating in the village center."

"You do that," Hiccup groaned as Astrid strolled out, leaving a doubled-over husband and an amused mother-in-law in her wake.

"Seems like someone needs a visit from Frigg," Valka said as she watched Hiccup recoil the fin back into his suit, then proceed to take off his armor. "What are you doing Hiccup?"

"With Toothless gone I won't be using this suit," Hiccup answered as he unstrapped his arms and slide the arm guards off, revealing the green long-sleeved shirt underneath. "It's too depressing to have it on and not use it, you know." He unstrapped the shoulder pads and placed them on the table along with the arm guards. He sighed as he sat down at the table. Valka took this as her cue to enter the house.

"You miss your father," Valka said as she sat next to her son and rubbed his back. "Toothless being gone isn't making things better."

"I really need Toothless to be here right now," Hiccup said. "And Toothless needs me. He always gets depressed during mating season and I'm the only one who can make him feel better. Being the last of his kind really gets to him. I just want him to be happy, and it makes me so angry that I can't comfort him through all this. Plus, the stress from organizing the migration isn't helping things either. Why couldn't Dad be here to help me? It's just not fair."

"You know what my mother said to me," Valka said as she wiped a tear that formed in her son's eye, "when my father died a week before Snoggletog celebrations were about to begin?" Hiccup looked over at her. "When our loved ones can't be here for the holidays, we celebrate them."

"That's what Dad told me," Hiccup said. He smiled, making Valka smile too.

"Well your father was a smart man," Valka said, getting up from the table. "I'm going to the kitchens. This will be a great Snoggletog, just you wait." Hiccup watched her leave, and then got up too. Grabbing his fur vest, which seemed childish now that he was chief but he had no other warm clothing, he left his home to help his people with the holiday festivities. He just hoped his mother was right.

"Raise that shield a bit higher Gustav" Hiccup yelled to the teenage Viking. Gustav nodded and climbed higher up the tree made of planks of wood and held the shield up. "Perfect," Hiccup yelled back. Suddenly, an arrow zoomed forward, burrowing itself into the shield. Gustav pulled his hand back and the shield stayed in place.

"Perfect shot as usual Astrid," Gustav said as he climbed back down the tree.

"Thank you Gustav," Astrid said as she lowered her bow.

"Excellent work Milady," Hiccup said, kissing her cheek. Astrid smiled.

"Thanks Babe," she said. "But don't think that little compliment makes up for that comment about my cooking skills earlier this week."

"I stand by my decision," Hiccup answered, making Astrid roll her eyes.

"How do you think the dragons are doing?" Astrid asked as she shot an arrow at another shield being held in place by another Viking.

"I'm sure they're doing fine," Hiccup said, though he sounded unsure.

"Toothless will be fine," Astrid said. "Who knows, maybe another Night Fury will show up on the island and he'll come home with a whole basket full of baby Night Furies." Hiccup was about to tell her why he didn't believe that would happen when Gobber came sprinting up to them.

"Is it true you have your mother on kitchen duty?" he asked.

"It was either her or Astrid," Hiccup answered, earning him a glare from his wife.

"Excellent choice," Gobber said, running off before Astrid could punch him. She was about to express her annoyance at the village's lack of faith in her cooking skills when Valka ran up.

"Hiccup," Valka said as she handed him a piece of paper. "Fish seem to be disappearing from our storehouse every day and we can't seem to figure out where it's going. At this rate, we'll run out before the dragons get back."

"Get the fishing boats back out," Hiccup said as he looked over the paper. "We may not have the dragons to help us but we've caught fish without their help for hundreds of years." Valka nodded and rushed off to relay the order to the fishermen, leaving Hiccup and Astrid to look over the list of food supplies they had left.

"A basket of fish a day can't disappear," Astrid said. Hiccup nodded his agreement, not taking his eyes off the parchment. Suddenly, Astrid groaned, making Hiccup finally tear his eyes away to look at his wife.

"Astrid?" Hiccup asked, alarmed at the sight of his wife doubled over in pain. He rushed over to where his wife was taking deep breaths and clutching her stomach. Before he could call for someone to get Gothi, the medicine Viking, Astrid took a deep breath.

"I'm fine," she said. Her shaking voice didn't convince Hiccup.

"No, you're not," he said. "Come on, I'm taking you to Gothi."

"No, really," Astrid said. She started poking all over her slim figure, as if that was proof that she wasn't hurting anymore. "Besides, they've been going on all day."

"All day?" Hiccup asked, shocked that he hadn't noticed his wife was having painful cramps, or whatever was ailing her.

"Yeah," Astrid said, as if it was no big deal. "It's been going on ever since I went to the bathroom this morning." Hiccup looked at her like she was insane, which she was. How could anyone go through that much pain in a day and not go get medicine to relieve the pain? "Besides, I'm sure it's just female-"

"So I'm looking at the amount of fish missing each day," Hiccup said, interrupting Astrid and thus ending the conversation. Astrid rolled her eyes at this. "And it's definitely way too much for one person to eat alone."

"So you think-"

"Oh Gods he did it again," Hiccup said, interrupting Astrid for the second time in a row. This time, however, there was a much different reason. Throwing the list on the ground, he started sprinting in the direction of one of the private dragon stables.

"Hiccup," Astrid called. "Where are you going?" Hiccup ignored her and kept running. Once he made it to the stable, he broke the lock on the doors with a nearby axe and tore them open. He barely had enough time to get out of the way before a Gronkle zoomed out. Walking into the now empty stable, the young chief stopped to look around for the safest place a dragon would think to lay her eggs. Before he could move any farther in, Hiccup felt his real leg fly out from under him. Hiccup screamed as he started to be dragged out the stable and off the cliff, only to start swinging in mid-air. Looking up, or down depending on how you looked at it, he found a rope that had been attached to the dragon's leg had somehow gotten wrapped around Hiccup's leg as well, making the Viking an unwilling passenger. Even if he untied the rope from his ankle, he would hit the ground hard. He wished he were still wearing his flight suit.

"Astrid is in charge until I get back," Hiccup yelled to the Vikings who stood at the edge of the cliff, watching their chief be carried off by a dragon.

"That was for kidnapping your dragon, _again_," Astrid said after punching Fishlegs in the arm. Tuffnut laughed.

"And to think you wasted your time keeping an eye on us," he said, earning an equally strong punch from Astrid.

"And _that_ was for annoying me."

It wasn't long before Meatlug landed on what Hiccup had dubbed "Exploding Egg Island" after the exploding eggs the dragons hatched there every two years. It was just as he had remembered it from his last trip here. Every migration year he and Toothless would escort the dragons to the island, explore the surrounding islands for a week, then come back to help the new mothers and fathers transport their new babies back to Berk. Toothless never seemed eager to stay so they always left. Hiccup never understood why.

As Hiccup walked around the island, looking for the Berk dragons, he remembered how sad he was when he realized he wouldn't be coming this year. They had new species of dragons on Berk this year, and he wanted to learn more about them. Did they lay eggs like the other species? Did their eggs explode when they hatched? He was going to find out now.

"Toothless," Hiccup called, looking around for his dragon. He saw some familiar dragon faces, Cloudjumper and Skullcrusher for instance. It wasn't long before he ran into Stormfly and Hookfang. Toothless, however, was nowhere in sight.

"Hey there Stormfly," Hiccup said, going up to his wife's dragon and scratching underneath her chin. Stormfly cooed and closed her eyes. "You wouldn't happen to know where Toothless is, would you?" Stormfly's eyes opened and she squawked. Hiccup furrowed his eyebrows, a sign that he was thinking hard about the way Stormfly was acting. He looked over to Hookfang, who refused to meet Hiccup's eyes. Even Barf and Belch were looking away.

"Perfect," Hiccup said as he sank to the ground. By the other dragon's reactions, Toothless was not on the island. Hiccup wasn't even sure if he even made the full trip. "Was he captured?" Hiccup asked, unsure where to proceed with finding his missing dragon. Stormfly shook her head and Hiccup sighed with relief. At least that was one thing he didn't have to worry about.

Hiccup decided he couldn't sit still any longer and got up to grab some fish from the emergency baskets the Vikings had sent with the dragons. It was meant to be as a last resort, if one of the mothers didn't have a mate to bring her and her babies food at the beginning of the week. Since the dragons were scheduled to leave tomorrow anyway, it didn't hurt to take some of the leftovers for himself.

Hiccup vaulted over the side of the boat, landing on the deck with ease, despite his peg leg messing with his balance on an average day. Hiccup felt like laughing when he realized that this _was_ an average day for him, whether he liked it or not. He grabbed a few fish out of the only remaining basket. Fishlegs told him they had added four baskets of fish. Two were empty, one was half-full, and the other was nowhere to be seen. Hiccup assumed it had been lost during transport.

"Well," Hiccup said as he sat down next to the Berk dragons. "I guess I'm sticking with you guys till tomorrow." One of Hookfang's offspring suddenly lit itself on fire by accident, causing his siblings to do the same. Hiccup chuckled and he held one of his fish over the dragons, quickly cooking it in the process. Putting the cooked fish in his lap, he took one of the raw fish and cut it up, feeding the pieces to his makeshift campfire as a thank-you. After Hiccup had his fill of fish, he laid down to look at the stars, the baby dragons curling around him. Luckily, Hookfang grabbed the one who couldn't seem to get the hang of his fire powers and tucked him in next to him, which Hiccup was incredibly grateful for.

"I hope you're okay Toothless," Hiccup said, before closing his eyes, hoping with every bone in his body that his best friend would be there when he woke up.

"It looks like Berk is still standing," Hiccup said as the Viking village appeared over the horizon. The sun had just set, and Hiccup was glad to see that there were no house-shaped bonfires. That meant that Astrid had found any eggs Meatlug may have laid, and kept them away from the village. It also meant that the twins had been on their best behavior, which was harder to do than it sounded.

"Hey look, it's Hiccup," he heard one of the Vikings shout and everyone started clapping as the boat was lowered and the baby dragons came spilling out. Everyone rushed over to greet their dragons and the new additions to the family. Hiccup quickly dismounted Hookfang so Snotlout could hug his dragon and start naming the babies after himself. Hiccup took a second to look around for his own dragon. But no Night Fury came flying up to him.

"Hiccup!" someone shouted. Hiccup turned to find Astrid running up to him, a basket of what looked to be some bread, red berries, and leaves on her back. Hiccup tried not to groan at the sight. Either someone on Berk was too sick to eat in the Great Hall, which meant someone had to bring food to them, or the twins had destroyed the storehouses once again, which meant if anyone wanted food, they had to gather it themselves until a new storehouse could be built. He hated to think it, but he was seriously hoping for the former.

"You will not believe the day I've had," Hiccup said.

"Well I have some wonderful news that might cheer you up," Astrid said, grinning. Hiccup tried to match her grin, but he knew his heart wasn't into it.

"I highly doubt that," he answered as he frowned, making Astrid roll her eyes.

"Alright, what's wrong?" Astrid said.

"Toothless wasn't on the island," Hiccup answered, making Astrid gasp.

"What?" Astrid said, clearly not believing it. Valka, who had come up behind Astrid to greet her son, gasped as well.

"From what I could gather from the other dragons, he dropped them off and then took off," Hiccup said. "By the time they were ready to leave this afternoon, he still hadn't shown up."

"Oh Hiccup," Astrid said. "I'm so sorry."

"Do you think he was angry with me because I made him take the trip alone, so he ran away?" Hiccup asked.

"Of course not Babe," Astrid said as she placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Toothless cares about you too much. I'm sure there was an important reason for him to leave the other dragons."

"I hope so," Hiccup said. "Anyway, what's this wonderful news? Maybe it will cheer me up. Have the twins finally decided to give up making everything explode?" An explosion sounded off on the other side of the village.

"Do I have to answer that?" Astrid asked.

"No, I think that explosion was enough," Hiccup said, making Astrid chuckle. They stood there in silence before Valka cut in, clearly impatient about something.

"Astrid was given a gift by one of the Goddesses while you were away," she said, surprising Hiccup.

"Really, which one?" Hiccup asked, intrigued. It had been awhile since a Berkian had been bestowed a gift by a God or Goddess. A gift bestowed during Snoggletog was especially rare.

"Frigg," Valka answered, before Astrid could answer. Astrid frowned and pushed Valka away before she could say anything else.

"Really?" Hiccup said, amused. "Does this mean you finally know how to cook?" A quick punch in the arm stopped the laughter in Hiccup's throat.

"What _else_ is she the Goddess of," Astrid asked, "other than housework?"

"Uh," Hiccup said, rubbing his arm, "marriage? But our marriage was ten months ago." Astrid groaned.

"What.Else." she hissed, clearly angry that Hiccup wasn't getting this as quickly as she thought.

"She's the, uh, Goddess of-" Hiccup stopped, and his eyes widened farther than he ever thought they were possible of going. Astrid smiled as she turned her body to the right. What he originally thought was a basket of food was anything but. He watched the bread and berries twitch, and that confirmed it. "The Goddess of Motherhood," he whispered as the bread-and-berries object decided to open its eyes. It was a baby, not bread, with flaming red hair, and no red berries in sight, wrapped in a green blanket that eerily matched one of Hiccup's shirts.

"She's beautiful, don't you think?" Astrid asked, unsure what Hiccup was thinking at the moment. Hiccup continued to stare at the child all bundled up and strapped to his wife's back. Valka noticed that Hiccup wasn't moving and went to take the little one out of its basket. In the blink of an eye, Hiccup was holding the baby girl in his arms.

The newborn child stared up at the chief of Berk with big green eyes. It was as if she were asking, "who are you?", and Hiccup had no idea how to answer. Was he her father? How could he be a father to a child he just met? Could he be a father to her at all? That last question terrified him.

"She has your eyes," Astrid offered, once she realized Hiccup wasn't going to say anything anytime soon.

"She has your nose," Hiccup finally said, making Astrid smile with relief. Anything was better than the silence. "She has hair like her Grandfather, the poor thing." Astrid giggled and stepped closer to her husband.

"She's small too," Astrid said, "like her father. Not like that's going to stop her." Hiccup smiled at that.

"Haddocks don't let being hiccups stop them from doing anything," Hiccup said as he watched the baby, his _daughter_ he reminded himself, yawn. "What's her name?"

"I wanted to wait for you," Astrid said, "but you were gone too long. I decided on Solveig."

"From the house of strength," Hiccup translated as he took one hand out from under his little baby girl and used it to brush a tuft of red hair away from her forehead.

"You've shown so much strength this past year," Astrid said. "Even after losing your father, you didn't let it stop you from being a great chief. Odin knows that you've been strong this whole week, knowing you had to let your best friend do his duty on his own since you had to do yours too. I just hope that our daughter will show as much strength as you have." She kissed her husband on the cheek and tried looking him in the eyes. "Do you like it?"

"Solveig Haddock," Hiccup said slowly, testing it out on his tongue. It fit nicely.

"Hiccup?" Astrid asked, searching his face for anything that could tell her what he was thinking.

"Everyone to the Great Hall," Hiccup shouted to the villagers, who had been watching the exchange since the very beginning. Hiccup briefly wondered how he hadn't noticed the silence earlier. "We have a new Viking to welcome." Everyone cheered at this. Astrid smiled and Hiccup couldn't help but mirror hers.

The feast was supposed to be a celebration of Snoggletog and the safe return of the dragons and their new babies. This didn't stop it from turning into a congratulatory party for the chief and his wife.

The woman would come up to coo over the child and make teasing remarks about how Astrid didn't have to go through a pregnancy in order to birth a baby before overwhelming the new parents with advice. The men would clap Hiccup hard on the back, making the chief stumble forward, and ask when his wife was going to produce a successor and heir. Hiccup had half a mind to say right then and there that Solveig would be their next chief, just to shut them up.

"If I hear one more snide remark about how I didn't _work_ for nine months to have a baby," Astrid hissed to her husband, "I'm going to-"

"Astrid-"

WHAT?" Astrid yelled, turning her head to glare at the person who had dared speak to her, which just so happened to be Ruffnut.

"Whoa," Ruffnut said, holding up her hands to show she came in piece. "What made you all cranky all of a sudden?" Astrid would have answered with something sarcastic if Solveig hadn't chosen that moment to start crying.

"Oh no darling," Astrid said, her previous anger fading quickly. She started to rock her daughter. "Don't cry. Everything is alright. No it's not. Hiccup I don't know what I'm doing."

"You think I do?" Hiccup asked. "I just got here. You've known her a day longer than I have. You know more than me."

"You're supposed to be an expert on babies," Astrid snapped at her husband, her angry back in full force.

"Yes _dragon_ babies," Hiccup said. He could feel his patience slowly disappearing. "In fact, dragons in general, except my own apparently. I know nothing about _Viking _babies, except they seem to cry a lot more than dragon babies."

"Wait," Astrid said, her anger dissipating once again. "You _are_ an expert on Night Furies."

"If I was such an expert," Hiccup snapped, his growing anger not leaving like his wife's, "then how come I don't know where my dragon is?" Astrid's eyes widened.

"Well, uh," Astrid said, having trouble thinking of something to say with Hiccup glaring at her and a crying baby in her arms. "Maybe it's because he doesn't want to be on Berk anymore."

"_What_?" Hiccup asked, anger filling his voice. Astrid's gaze didn't falter from his as he stared her down. In an instant, however, his anger disappeared from his face, and a look of disappointment replaced it. "It's all my fault," Hiccup said, his voice soft. "He didn't want to go without me and I made him. I wish he were here to meet Solveig. I really think-oof!" Hiccup stumbled back from the blow Astrid dealt him with one hand. He was impressed by how she pushed him back while still holding on to their daughter, while also concerned that Solveig had stopped crying. She definitely took after her mother in finding joy in his pain.

"What was that for?" Hiccup asked, confused. Astrid groaned as she rolled her eyes.

"I think she wanted you to turn around," Snotlout suggested. Hiccup looked at his cousin with confusion before realizing that once again the entire village was staring at them, and Hiccup was pretty sure it had nothing to do with the argument they were having earlier about what kind of babies he was an expert on. He decided that he might as well turn around, since it seemed that was what everyone wanted him to do anyway.

"Toothless!" Hiccup exclaimed, unable to believe his eyes. There was his dragon, his best friend, in all his scaly glory. It didn't take long for him to close the distance between the two. "I missed you so much bud," Hiccup said as he hugged the black dragon. Hiccup heard Toothless's mumbled coo and turned to look up at his dragon.

"Is that the missing basket of fish from the boat?" Hiccup asked, looking at the object Toothless held in his jaw, the reason for the mumbled response earlier. "You know what? I don't care. I'm just glad you're back." Hiccup turned around to look at Astrid, who was smiling back at him. "Come here bud. I want you to meet someone." Hiccup was smiling as he motioned for Toothless to follow him over to where Astrid was holding Solveig.

"Hey Toothless," Astrid said as she rocked the baby Viking back and forth in her arms. "This is Solveig."

"Solveig is my daughter," Hiccup clarified as he watched Toothless sniff his daughter. Suddenly, Toothless's eyes widened and he started backing away from the family of three, the basket still in his mouth. "Whoa, Toothless, what's wrong?" Toothless shook his head and started backing away further. Hiccup frowned and he ran after his friend and grabbed the basket out of his mouth.

"Why did you go after the basket anyway?" Hiccup asked, keeping the object in question out of the dragon's reach. "You guys didn't need it. It was just in case of an emergency." Toothless shuffled in place, making Hiccup chuckle. He could feel something in the basket that seemed too light to be a bunch of fish. Placing the basket on the ground, he opened the lid and peered inside. What he found definitely took him by surprise.

"A dragon egg?" Hiccup said, confused. Had a dragon laid an egg during the journey, and Toothless went back to find it? Hiccup furrowed his brows as he got closer to the egg. It was smaller and darker than the dragon eggs he knew. It was also smoking. "A dragon egg," Hiccup said a bit louder, his eyes widening. "DRAGON EGG!"

At the sound of their chief's voice, everyone in the Great Hall started to take cover. Toothless ran to protect his rider, but a few quick signals from Hiccup made him change his trajectory to one in Astrid's and Solveig's direction. Hiccup was on his own as he started to back away from the basket and egg as quickly as he could.

The egg exploded with such force, it knocked Hiccup to the ground as well as winded him. Before he could sit up and survey the damage the explosion had caused, a small object landed on his stomach, thus causing more wind to be knocked out of the chief's lungs. As Hiccup attempted to breathe normally, he thought about the dragon that had just been born in the Great Hall. It was definitely a lot smaller than most baby dragons and definitely did not weigh as much as the other species did when they're first born. Though Hiccup couldn't see the newborn since he was too busy staring at the ceiling waiting for his head to stop spinning, he could tell this dragon was the runt of the litter, a hiccup like himself. Hiccup groaned as he slowly sat up. He looked around as people started to emerge from their hiding spots and made sure Astrid, Solveig, and Toothless were okay before turning to the new dragon in his lap. Hiccup's eyes widened once again.

"A Night Fury?" Hiccup said, unable to believe his eyes. The black-as-night baby dragon yawned in cute way only baby dragons could do. Hiccup looked up from this strange sight to look at his own Night Fury. Said dragon was sitting in front of Hiccup with a calm look on his face, as if the sight of another of his kind was normal. Hiccup turned back to the little Night Fury and carefully picked him up in his hands. "Where did you come from little one?"

"I wonder if Toothless went searching for a mate," Astrid asked, kneeling down next to her husband. "And found this egg instead. Hiccup, that's great news. That means there is another Night Fury out there, possibly two."

"Oh, a baby Night Fury," Valka exclaimed, coming up from behind and taking the baby dragon away from her son. She started looking him over. "He's such a wee thing, especially for a Night Fury. I bet its mother didn't think it would survive the hatching and just left it there on that mountain. Luckily for her, Toothless came along."

"_Her_?" Hiccup asked. "_Mountain_?"

"Night Furies are a very cautious species of dragon," Valka explained. "I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a group of Night Fury during my first year away from Berk. They tend to keep to themselves and rarely mingle with other dragons. It would only make sense they'd give birth far away from the others. As for being female, well, it's clearly obvious."

"Right," Hiccup said, not quite understanding what his mother was saying. He was beginning to accept the fact that his mother knew way more about dragons than he did.

"She needs a name," Astrid said.

"How about Snoggletog?"

"That's not helping Ruffnut," Astrid said.

"Actually," Hiccup said, "that's not bad. Who's in favor of Snoggletog as this dragon's name?" He directed his last question to the rest of the Vikings in the Great Hall. They clapped and cheered, making Hiccup smile. "That settles it. Meet Snoggletog everybody."

"Hiccup, are you feeling okay?" Astrid asked as everyone cheered. Hiccup frowned.

"I have no idea," he answered. "In the past couple of hours alone, I find out my dragon didn't return to Berk, that I have a newborn daughter, and that my dragon accidently came across a Night Fury egg while looking for a mate. It's a lot to take in. I'm terrified that I'll wake up and it will have all been a dream."

"Let's hope not," Valka said, chuckling. She handed the baby Night Fury back to Hiccup, who held it carefully in the palm of his hands before transferring it to his shoulder, where she clung on to his vest with her tiny claws.

"You're going to have to take care of her Toothless," Hiccup said, looking over at his friend. "Seems Frigg has given you a Snoggletog gift too." Toothless huffed his annoyance at his best friend. Hiccup laughed, and then found he couldn't stop laughing.

"Why don't we head back home," Astrid said, handing him his baby daughter once he calmed down. "You've had a long week."

"My first Snoggletog without Dad," Hiccup mumbled as they made their way out the Great Hall, "my first with Mom, my wife had a baby, my best friend brought home a baby Night Fury, and it was a migration year."

"Craziest Snoggletog ever," Astrid agreed as they stepped out into the cold Berkian air.

"But definitely one of the best," Hiccup added, kissing Astrid on the forehead. Toothless cooed his agreement, making Hiccup laugh.

This Snoggletog, he thought to himself, was definitely one to remember.

**This took FOREVER. I wrote this over the course of three days. I didn't even know where I was going with it. I had that scene where Hiccup finds out he had a daughter and I wrote the story around that scene. Not a good idea. Too many things going on at once and going in different directions. Definitely not my best fanfic, but definitely not my worst. But obviously I am my worst critic so tell me what you liked about it, tell me what you hated, tell me what annoyed you the most, etc. That's why I'm posting this story, to get feedback from you, the reader, on ways I can improve.**

**So I looked up why someone wouldn't know they were pregnant/didn't show a pregnant belly/symptoms and one thing that popped up was that if the mother is stressed, the baby will sort of pretend it's not there in order to keep itself and the mother alive (or something similar, I have no idea). I wanted the baby's birth to be a surprise for everyone, because if Hiccup left knowing Astrid was pregnant and he came back to find his wife had given birth, Solveig wouldn't have been the surprise that she was. The other women are probably jealous of that, especially since they're Vikings living in the past and they don't understand sperm and egg stuff (or at least I assume they didn't). Hence the gift from Frigg.**

**I feel like there's not enough tension. How do I fix that? Was I too hard on the twins?**

**Man, the ending stinks…and the last section. Geez. How do you write endings?**

**Notes:**

_**Solveig-From the house of strength**_

_**Frigg-Goddess of Marriage and Motherhood and housework (or something similar)**_

_**Avatar Rikki**_


End file.
